This week, the Opelousas Police Chief and his public information officer were both booked in connection with a December 2023 shooting that involved a third Opelousas officer - who was booked earlier this month.
The shooting happened at that officer's home; Officer Savannah Butler is accused of shooting both the chief and his wife, St. Landry Parish Sheriff's deputy Crystal Leblanc. The chief and his PIO are accused of other charges related to the incident. To read about that, click here and here.
We've obtained the arrest warrant issued for the chief this week. To see it for yourself, scroll down.
The St. Landry Parish Sheriff's detective who worked the case recounts these allegations:
He was called to Butler's home the night of the shooting, after the chief showed up at an Opelousas Hospital with a gunshot wound to the hand. His wife - a fellow sheriff's deputy - was shot in the shoulder.
When the detective got to Butler's home, he saw blood on the house, blood on Butler's OPD unit - a Dodge Charger - and he saw that it appeared some blood had recently been washed away on the carport. He also noticed that the house had surveillance cameras.
The detective got a warrant for the footage on the cameras. There were four: two outside, with no audio, and one at the front door and another in the living room. Those two do have audio, the detective wrote.
The videos showed Butler arrive at the home around 8 p.m., and the chief showed up four minutes later. They were both inside the home when Crystal Leblanc arrived at about 8:30 p.m. to knock on the door. The chief comes out to talk to Crystal, and the next video shows Leblanc shot in the hand, Cyrstal shot in the shoulder, and Butler holding a gun and arguing with Crystal.
Crystal tried to get her husband into her car, and he was telling her "do not call anyone." She said she was, because she was shot and he was, too. Butler is seen on the video pulling the chief out of his wife's car. The chief and Butler went back into her home.
Crystal got help from someone else to get to the hospital, the detective wrote.
Here's the warrant; we've redacted some personal information and the name of a witness.
WARNING: There is profanity contained in this document.
